PALEOCEANOGRAPHY Onset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic

Hernandez-Molina FJ; Stow DAV; Alvarez-Zarikian CA; Acton G; Bahr A; Balestra B; Ducassou E; Flood R; Flores JA; Furota S; Grunert P; Hodell D; Jimenez-Espejo F; Kim JK; Krissek L; Kuroda J; Li BH; Llave E; Lofi J; Lourens L; Miller M; Nanayama F; Nishida N; Richter C; Roque C; Pereira H; Goni MFS; Sierro FJ; Singh AD; Sloss C; Takashimizu Y; Tzanova A; Voelker A; Williams T; Xuan C

Science, Vol.344, No.6189, 1244-1250, 2014

DOI10.1126/science.1251306 Export Citation

PALEOCEANOGRAPHY Onset of Mediterranean outflow into the North Atlantic

Hernandez-Molina FJ, Stow DAV, Alvarez-Zarikian CA, Acton G, Bahr A, Balestra B, Ducassou E, Flood R, Flores JA, Furota S, Grunert P, Hodell D, Jimenez-Espejo F, Kim JK, Krissek L, Kuroda J, Li BH, Llave E, Lofi J, Lourens L, Miller M, Nanayama F, Nishida N, Richter C, Roque C, Pereira H, Goni MFS, Sierro FJ, Singh AD, Sloss C, Takashimizu Y, Tzanova A, Voelker A, Williams T, Xuan C

Sediments cored along the southwestern Iberian margin during Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Expedition 339 provide constraints on Mediterranean Outflow Water (MOW) circulation patterns from the Pliocene epoch to the present day. After the Strait of Gibraltar opened (5.33 million years ago), a limited volume of MOW entered the Atlantic. Depositional hiatuses indicate erosion by bottom currents related to higher volumes of MOW circulating into the North Atlantic, beginning in the late Pliocene. The hiatuses coincide with regional tectonic events and changes in global thermohaline circulation (THC). This suggests that MOW influenced Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), THC, and climatic shifts by contributing a component of warm, saline water to northern latitudes while in turn being influenced by plate tectonics.